A New Friend or an Old Acquaintance
by Jemlela
Summary: Gibbs is in love and he is getting married. The day he brings her to meet the Team, Tony recognizes her before collapsing. PLEASE READ AND REVIEW
1. AMANDA

Gibbs came into work happier then he has been in a long time. He hasn't been this happy since Shannon and Kelly. All the other times he has been married and his other relationships can't even began to compare to the one he has going right now. He even asked her to marry him, something he never thought he would ever do again. He is even taking the next step and finally introducing his fiancée to the team. He wants them to all be in the wedding, but he is having a hard time deciding who will be best man; Tony or Ducky. Ducky has been one of his very best friends for a long time. Tony is the son he never had and always wanted and the first agent to stay longer than 5 years. He knew what he was doing when he recruited the homicide detective from the Baltimore Police Department.

Amanda walked in to NCIS on Gibbs arm. She was excited to meet the team but also very nervous. These people mean a lot to Gibbs, what if they don't like her. She doesn't want to break up the team/family. This is going to be her 5th marriage as well. Her first 3 marriages ended in divorce, the last one died of cancer. She was so heartbroken when her husband died, she never thought that she would live again; that was until she met Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

Gibbs called down to Abby, Ducky and Palmer to come up to the bullpen before he even got in the elevator so that they will all be there when he brought Amanda up. He was shocked and disappointed that Tony wasn't in the bullpen. He checked his watch; he should be here by now.

"Where is DiNozzo?" He growled.

Amanda closed her eyes when he said it. It can't be him, it just can't be.

"In the head; he didn't look so well when he came into work." Tim answered.

Tony walked into the bullpen holding a glass of water. He drops it when he sees who was with Gibbs. The glass shattered when it the ground getting everybody's attention. Even Tony jumped at the loud noise.

Gibbs and Ducky rushed over to Tony he was sweating and shaking. Amanda didn't know what to say, she didn't think she would ever see him again so she saw no reason to mention it.

"Tony, are you okay?" Gibbs asked before realizing how dumb that question was. Tony is going to say he is "Fine." He is always fine, even when he isn't.

The words that came out of Tony's mouth wasn't fine; but, "Mandy." He would have turned around and left if it wasn't for Ducky and Gibbs holding him up.

"Mandy?" Gibbs repeated confused. Amanda had told him that when she was younger she used to go by Mandy. Tony knows this woman, his fiancée; but how. He wanted to go over and ask his fiancée about it, but he didn't want to leave Tony's side when he is so unstable on his feet. In Tony's current condition and the shock he wouldn't get a valid answer.

Tony passed out in their grip. Gibbs and Ducky knew they had to get him to Bethesda; then maybe Gibbs could the answer he needs.

* * *

Brad saw Gibbs and Ducky bring in an unconscious Tony.

"We need a gurney over here." He called.

A nurse brought over a gurney for them to lay Tony on. Brad took over and brought him into the private rooms at the back of the ER. He wanted to examine his patient so he can give an honest answer to Gibbs without having him hover.

* * *

Ducky watched Gibbs pace the waiting room. The rest of the team and Amanda came into the waiting room.

"How is he?" Abby cried.

"He is with Brad." Gibbs answered.

"Did you tell him that he doesn't have permission to die?" Abby demanded.

"He knows that and yes I told him in the car that he doesn't have my permission to die. Tony won't break a direct order, so he will be fine in time. How much time, we don't know yet." Gibbs answered comforting Abby.

Amanda watched the whole scene. She knows Tony is sick, she saw that back at the office. She also knows that Tony recognized her.

"What is wrong with him?" Amanda asked curiously.

"Several years ago Tony was exposed to pneumonic plague. As a result his lungs were badly damaged. So any type of cold could be fatal for him. If it turns into pneumonia it can kill him." Gibbs explained gently.

Amanda was shocked; she had no idea that Tony had been so sick. That something simple as a common cold could be potentially fatal.

"I know that this isn't the time or place Amanda; but I have to know, how do you know Tony DiNozzo?"

Amanda knew she had to tell him. She could see how much he cares for Tony. But could he choose between her and Tony. She hopes that he doesn't have to. That ball is in Tony's court and he is very sick at the moment.

"My second husband was Anthony DiNozzo Senior. We were married for about 2 years before we got divorced. Tony was my stepson." She answered

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	2. Tony's Childhood

Everyone was shocked by Amanda's confession. Gibbs knows that Tony had many stepmother, none of which he will ever talk about. Of all people to have had a relationship with Tony, the woman he wants to marry. He hopes that they had a good relationship and that Tony will be thrilled that they are together.

"Did you guys get along okay?" Gibbs asked.

"I was married to Anthony for about 6 months give or take before I even knew he had a son. Tony was away at boarding school and then summer camp. When Tony came home from summer camp he was very withdrawn. Anthony wasn't even worried about his son; he claimed that Tony was still mourning the death of his mother. Anthony didn't even care about him, always called him a waste of space. I tried to get Tony out of his shell and as I thought I was succeeding, something happened and Tony went deeper inside himself." Amanda started.

"What happened?" Gibbs asked.

"I don't know, my marriage became rocky and I knew we were heading for divorce. I told Anthony the only thing I want out of our marriage is custody of Tony. Anthony wouldn't hear of it and shipped Tony off to some boarding school. He reminded me that Tony wasn't my child, so I had no claims to him. He doesn't want his son, but won't let anyone else have him either. I tried delay tactics so I could find Tony; in the end it didn't work and I never saw Tony again until today."

Gibbs was about to ask another question when he was interrupted by Brad.

"How is he?

"He is still in bad shape. His lungs are having a hard time working and they are filling with fluid fast. I have him on chest tube and we are draining his lungs, but as fast as we are draining his lungs, they are refueling with fluid. For his sake, I hope this is over quick; his lungs can't handle any more scarring." Brad explained.

"Can I see him?"

"Yes. I will take you to him." Brad replied.

Gibbs looked to Amanda; he really needs to finish this conversation; but right now Tony needs him more.

* * *

Gibbs followed Brad to Tony's ICU room. Tony looked almost as bad as he did under those blue lights in the isolation chamber. Brad did one more checkup on Tony and left the room. Gibbs sat down next to Tony's bed and took his hand.

"You listen to me Tony, you need to fight this thing and get better. I am getting married and I want you to be my best man. I hope you will be happy about it. I don't know what happened between you and Amanda. I know she cares for you and she would have loved you if your father had given her the chance. Give her the chance to love you now; fight this thing and the 3 of us can be a family."

Amanda stood in the doorway with tears streaming down her face as she listened to Jethro talk to Tony. Gibbs heard a noise and saw Amanda standing there. He got up and gave her a kiss.

"How is he doing?" She asked.

"Not well, but he will survive; he always does. He just needs time to heal. I am going to stay here tonight with him."

"Jethro, I want to stay with you and Tony." Amanda answered taking a seat next to where Gibbs was sitting. She is stared at the unconscious young man; it reminded her of another time Tony was hospitalized. He slept very deeply then much like he is doing now.

"Hey, you okay; you seemed a million miles away." Gibbs asked as he sat down next to her.

"I was just thinking about the last time I saw Tony lying in a hospital bed. He was ten or eleven and he had collapsed at school from dehydration. This was a few days after he had gone very deep inside himself. He was in a deep depression and stopped eating. Even the school noticed his depression and how out of it he seemed. His teacher called me about it a day or two before his collapse." Amanda answered as she starred at her ex stepson.

"You said as long as you had known him, he was withdrawn. Was there really that much of a difference from his withdrawal to depression that his school noticed?" Gibbs asked confused.

"In the beginning I thought he was just as quiet and shy at school as he was at home. But when I had a parent teacher conference; all she could talk about how full of life Tony was; Talkative, full of energy, always eager to answer questions. I couldn't believe we were talking about the same boy. It was like his personality had an on/off switch. It was on at school and off at home.

Anthony was going to be gone 6 weeks, Europe somewhere. He asked me to go with him, I told him I couldn't. I was careful not to let the reason I didn't want to go was because I wanted to stay with Tony. I decided to use that time to get Tony to be as on as he was at school. We went to museums, parks, amusement parks. It took some time but he finally smiled and laughed. Anthony came home early; Tony was sitting at the kitchen table laughing when Anthony walked in. Tony ran upstairs, the next day he was deeply depressed. I don't know why or how it happened, just that it did. I never saw Tony smile after that day. After he was released from the hospital once he recovered from his dehydration; his personality was back to having the on/off button."

Gibbs listened to what his fiancée was saying. He felt bad for Tony. No child should have an on/off button. Sometimes he thinks Tony still does; it makes him wonder which one was the real Tony.

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	3. Let us be a Family

Gibbs and Amanda just sat there watching Tony sleep. They both kept hoping he would wake up soon. Gibbs now knew for sure without a doubt that Tony had suffered through emotional abuse and neglect. Both are bad, but are they enough to make a child be so withdrawn.

"Amanda, did you ever see any bruises on Tony as a child?"

Amanda was shocked at the question. How could he ask her something like that? "Do you honestly think I would sit back and allow Anthony to beat his son?"

"No, I don't; but I do think it may have been happening behind your back. I think that is what caused Tony's withdrawal at home and what was sent him into that deep depression. You admitted that there was emotional abuse and neglect. Is it really that far of a leap to assume that there could have been physical abuse as well?" Gibbs pointed out.

Amanda did realize that Jethro may have a point. Tony had been doing so well in that time they spent together while Anthony was out of town, but the minute he returned Tony had gone further inside than she even thought was possible for a child that young.

"Oh My!" She suddenly cried.

"Amanda what is it?" Gibbs asked.

"Before Anthony left he told Tony to stay out of my way. I never considered Tony to be in the way and I was having fun with him. I can only imagine how it must have looked to Anthony when he came home and saw Tony laughing at the table. He must have thought Tony disobeyed him and got in my way. If what you say is true and that Anthony was abusing his child, then Tony must have thought I set him up. This would explain losing all the ground I had gained with him. Anthony once told me when we were getting divorced and after I had begged him to give me custody of Tony; he told me that the boy was his property and besides he wouldn't go with me anyway; that Tony doesn't trust me. I always just assumed Anthony was lying to get me to give up."

"But if that SOB had Tony believing you were to blame for the abuse _**he **_had inflicted. He destroyed your relationship with Tony and Tony's ability to really trust anyone fully. I had met Tony on a joint case with Baltimore PD. Tony was a homicide detective. We had to work together to solve the case. I could see Tony didn't trust me to watch his six, hell, he didn't even trust anyone in his department to watch his back. His lack of trust was going to get him killed and I couldn't allow that. He was a great cop and would be an ever greater asset to NCIS, so I invited him to work for me. He accepted, but still couldn't trust me. After 6 months of trying to get him to trust me in the field, he finally did. But I knew I had to watch myself with him, that his trust is easily broken if I am not careful. He hates to be touched or hugged but responds well to a head slap. The first time I head slapped him it was a reflex, he became so quiet and involved in his work I was afraid that I had broken the trust he put in me. But by the end of the day he was fine and back to himself. Now the head slap works at a tool to get him to stop whatever he is doing and to focus on the task at hand." Gibbs said.

Amanda looked at him amazed at what he said and how much he had said.

"I don't think I have ever heard you talk so much once." She teased.

"I am not always the functional mute everyone thinks I am. I can speak when it is important and nothing is more important than Tony."

"You really mean that?" A voice said from the bed.

Amanda and Gibbs looked to see Tony was awake and staring at him with wide eyes begging it to be true.

"Yes I mean it. I am here for you, will always be here for you. No matter what." Gibbs said with a smile happy to see Tony finally awake.

"Tony, please believe me; I had no idea that your father was abusing you. I never would have let it continue if I had known." Amanda begged.

"He said you set me up. That you didn't care about me at all and the last few weeks was all a joke; a prank you were playing on me. I didn't want it to be true, but he had a way of emphasizing his point. In the end I believed what he was saying was true and even if it wasn't; it was true in his eyes and that was all that mattered." Tony answered with a sad and distant look in his eyes.

"Tony, I love you. I wanted custody of you when I divorced him. But he wouldn't give it to me, even sent you so far out of my reach. But that is the past. Please give me a chance to be the mother you needed then and didn't get."

"I don't know Mandy; you can't go back and change the past."

"No we can't, we can learn from it and move on with the rest of our lives. I have some wonderful news and I hope you will be very happy for me, for us. Jethro and I are getting married." Amanda said excitedly.

"Are you sure, you know he has been divorced 3 times, married 4." Tony teased.

"As have I. I know all about it."

"Tony, I want you to come and stay with me when you are released." Gibbs told him.

"Are you sure, I wouldn't want to get in your way." Tony replied worried.

"You are not in the way, never in the way."

Amanda looked to Jethro for conformation before she asked. He nodded. "Tony, how about you move in with us permanently. Give us a chance to be the parents you never had, but always needed."

"I don't know Mandy. I think it might be too late for me." Tony answered not meeting either of them in the eyes.

"Tony, it isn't too late. Having parents is about unconditional love; that is something you really need." Gibbs pointed out.

Tony still seemed unsure about it. They are getting married; they don't need him around, screwing everything up.

Gibbs knew that the hardest person on Tony was Tony and that is where he needs that unconditional love.

"Tony, I want you. Amanda wants you. Please allow us to be your parents. Let us show you what is like to love and to be loved. Stand up with me at my wedding. Let the 3 of us be a family." Gibbs begged Tony to understand.

Tony thought about it. He supposes he could give it a try; it is not like things could get any worse than what he has already been through.

"Okay, okay to all of the above." Tony finally agreed.

"Good, now get some rest. Because the sooner you get better the sooner you will get out of here and we can officially start our life together as a family." Gibbs said giving him a kiss on the forehead and then sat back to watch his son sleep.

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